About

Buzzwords are frequently used in news media. These are words that do not typically occur in everyday speech, but are common among newscasters, talking heads, and pundits on cable news.

These ‘news words’ are accepted by audiences for their implied meaning. But often loaded words are misused or used out of context. The actual definitions can be different than what is implied.

Newswordy is a growing collection of these words, updated every weekday. Along with each word is a definition, a quote with its use (or misuse) in the media, and a news and Twitter feed on the subject.

Extolling.

Praise enthusiastically.

Say what you will about it—and people are saying plenty—it’s a dead certainty you’ve never seen a campaign video quite like this one. Here’s a gray-haired gentleman, his bespectacled eyes a pair of dark raccoon circles, extolling Republican Herman Cain in rather a conventional way (‘We’ve run a campaign like nobody has ever seen,’ he says). And then the guy, Cain’s chief of staff, Mark Block, does something unexpected and kind of shocking: He stares into the camera and draws a cigarette to his lips, blowing a bit of smoke at the viewer.